Imagine ? a Democratic statewide candidate happy to be seen with Obama

By Peggy Fikac - Express-News :
August 15, 2010

AUSTIN — While some statewide Democratic hopefuls were scarce whenPresidentBarack Obama came to town, lieutenant governor candidateLinda Chavez-Thompson sent out a fund-raising e-mail touting her role in his visit.

“I didn't shake his hand,” Chavez-Thompson wrote. “I walked up straight to him, stared him in the eye, and greeted him with a warmabrazo (hug). Because that's the way you greet a fellow laborer.”

Chavez-Thompson, up against the well-funded GOP Lt. Gov.David Dewhurst, asked supporters in the e-mail for “$25, $35, $50 or whatever you can afford.”

She said by phone she was “bowled over” when the White House asked her to introduce Obama at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser last week. Chavez-Thompson, a DNC vice-president, said she got to know Obama when he was U.S. senator from Illinois and she was executive vice president of the national AFL-CIO.

“I'm proud of what he's done,” she said.

SMU political scientistCal Jillson said it made sense politically for Chavez-Thompson to appear with Obama.

“This is her first run for major office. She's up against a tough and very well-funded candidate. And she will depend upon votes coming out of the cities and out of the Valley,” Jillson said. “If you're running significantly behind, you have to do everything you can to excite your base vote.”

Jillson said he also understood the decision by DemocratBill White, challenging GOP Gov.Rick Perry, to maintain a campaign schedule that kept him away from Obama as White woos the independent vote. But he added, “I thought the way he did it risked offending the base Democratic vote. He could have been less dismissive of Obama while still not going out of his way to meet with him.”

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